otoy  7 


I 3 W) 

IdCl'f.Is. 

1°  I 

Mindanao,  Island  of  Komance 


By 

FRANK  C.  LAUBACH 


OUTLINE  MAP  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  GROUP 
/•'or  Mission  Stations  see  Map  on  page  nineteen. 


MINDANAO,  ISLAND  OF  ROMANCE 

Our  Responsibility  in  the  Philippines 

By  Frank  C.  Latjbach,  Ph.D. 

I KNOW  it  is  romantic  for  I have 
shared  its  romance.  Thirteen  years 
ago  Mrs.  Laubach  and  I sailed  down 
from  Manila,  past  h vely  little  islands 
green  with  waving  palms  until  at  last, 
far  across  the  shimmering  sea,  arose  the 
dim  outlines  of  the  fairest  island  of  them 
all.  That  was  one  of  the  tensest  mo- 
ments of  my  life.  I remember  how  roy 
heart  beat,  how  my  throat  was  too  tight 
for  words,  how  my  soul  soared!  You  do 
not  understand,  for  you  have  not  been 
there.  But  go  ask  Secretary  Bell.  He 
visited  us  once.  He  understands. 

He  nearly  lost  his  life  — or  thought  he  did  — in  our  launch 
on  treacherous  Mindanao  Sea.  He  witnessed  ex-criminals 
blazing  with  passion  for  Jesus  Christ.  He  visited  the  spot  where 
Jose  Rizal,  one  of  the  world's  rare  noble  souls,  spent  weary  years 
of  his  exiled  life  on  the  rock-bound  shores  of  Dapitan  Bay.  Frank 
Woodward  and  Julius  Augur  and  Proculo  Rodriguez  and  Agapito 
Raagas  and  I were  with  Enoch  Bell  that  sacred  evening.  Our 
voices  were  hushed  as  we  landed.  We  proceeded  in  silence  to 
the  spot  where  Rizal's  house  once  stood.  Silently  we  walked 
over  the  paths  Rizal  had  built  and  gazed  at  the  fountains  and 
canals  he  and  his  students  had  constructed.  We  were  all 
praying.  Rizal’s  spirit  was  there. 

If  you  had  known  Rizal  you  would  place  a statue  in  his 
memory  at  Washington  just  as  the  British  have  placed  a statue 
in  honor  of  Lincoln  in  front  of  Westminster  Abbey.  You  rule 
the  Philippines.  You  will  decide  when  the  Philippines  shall  be 
free.  Yet  you  do  not  know  that  they  produced  a man  as  great  in 
spirit  as  Lincoln,  as  great  in  vision,  in  passion,  in  unselfishness, 
in  ability,  in  sacrifice.  Rarely  since  our  Master  set  his  face  to  go 


DR.  LALBACII 


2 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


to  Jerusalem  and  the  cross  has  any  man  laid  down  his  life  so 
deliberately  as  did  Rizal.  You  must  know  Rizal  or  you  cannot 
know  my  Mindanao. 

He  was  a genius.  His  parents  sent  him  to  Europe  to  complete 
his  studies.  He  shone  in  Madrid,  in  Paris,  in  London,  in  Berlin. 

He  learned  to  speak  fifteen 
languages.  He  was  a gifted 
painter  and  sculptor,  a 
physician  and  an  oculist, 
while  his  own  country  was 
seething  with  revolt.  Fili- 
pinos were  being  shot  or 
exiled  almost  daily.  Many 
of  them  escaped  to  Europe 
and  behind  the  secret  doors 
of  the  Masonic  lodges 
planned  the  overthrow  of 
the  Spanish  regime.  Rizal 
dared  to  oppose  revolt  and 
to  insist  that  only  by  edu- 
cation and  character  could 
the  Filipinos  deserve  free- 
dom or  keep  it  if  they  had 
it.  The  Filipinos  must  be- 
come worthy,  and  the  ideal- 
istic people  in  Spain  must 
be  persuaded.  That  was 
his  gospel. 

He  wrote  a novel  exposing  the  atrocities  of  the  Spanish  rule 
(in  English,  named  the  “Reign  of  Greed”)  which  William  Dean 
Howells  pronounced  the  greatest  novel  of  the  nineteenth  century 
in  any  language.  It  made  Rizal  at  once  the  best  loved  and  the 
worst  hated  man  in  the  Philippines.  He  was  out  of  reach  of  the 
authorities  whom  he  condemned,  so  they  took  their  vengeance 
upon  his  relatives. 

Rizal  came  home.  Before  sailing  across  the  China  Sea  to 
Manila  he  left  two  letters  in  Hongkong,  “to  be  opened"  he  wrote 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


3 


on  the  outside  “after  my  death.”  Hear  what  he  says:  “I  know 
that  hardly  anyone  comprehends  what  is  in  my  heart.  The 
future  of  my  country  pivots  in  some  degree  around  me.  In  my 
death  many  of  its  enemies  will  feel  triumph.  But  I hold  duty  to 
conscience  above  all  else.  What  matters  death  if  one  die  for 
what  he  loves!  Always  I have  loved  our  unhappy  land  and  I 
shall  continue  to  until  my  last  moments.  Life,  career,  happiness, 
I am  ready  to  sacrifice  for  her.  I shall  die  blessing  her  and  long- 
ing for  the  dawn  of  her  redemption.”  And  so  he  sailed  for  Manila. 

A few  weeks  later  he  was  banished  to  Dapitan,  Mindanao. 
For  four  years  he  lived  at  the  lovely  lonely  spot  to  which  we  now 
make  pilgrimage.  Rizal  filled  Mindanao  with  his  passion,  his 
poetry,  his  love,  his  immeasurable  agony.  Rizal  gave  Mindanao 
its  romance. 

Then  he  returned  to  Manila  — and  his  death.  The  night 
before  his  execution  he  wrote  one  of  the  sweetest  poems  in  the 
Spanish  language,  surely  the  most  heart-gripping: 

I die  — yet  see!  the  skies  glow  overhead 
Announcing  day  at  last  beyond  the  night ! 

And  should  you  need  to  stain  the  dawn  with  red, 

Behold  my  blood  is  for  this  purpose  shed,  — 

To  dye  incarnadine  thy  natal  light. 

E’er  yet  my  childhood  changed  to  youth,  I dreamed 
As  youth  will  dream  when  vigor  courses  strong, 

One  day  to  see  my  Orient  jewel  redeemed, 

Her  dark  eyes  dried,  her  brow  no  longer  seamed, 

Her  face  uplifted,  smiling,  freed  from  wrong! 

Sweet  vision!  living  hope!  undying  fire! 

“God-speed!”  this  soul  cries  out  that  soon  must  die: 
“God-speed!”  Oh,  just  to  fall  and  lift  thee  higher, 

To  breathe  new  life  on  thee  as  I expire 
And  then  in  thy  charmed  arms  forever  lie! 

I, and  I adore,  whose  sadness  makes  me  grieve; 

Dear  Philippines!  my  last  farewell  again! 

With  thee,  my  kindred,  friends,  and  all  I leave, 

To  go  where  none  are  slaves  and  none  deceive, 

Where  faith  kills  not,  and  God  alone  doth  reign. 


4 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


Daybreak,  the  rattle  of  bayonets,  a walk  to  Bagumbayan 
Field,  a jeering  throng  of  triumphant  enemies,  the  crack  of  rifles 
and  it  is  finished. 

It  is  begun!  Today  every  boy  and  girl  knows  that  poem. 
Today  the  handsome  face  of  the  young  martyr  is  seen  at  the 
center  of  every  plaza  of  every  city  and  village  in  the  Philippines. 
One  immortal  dead  youth  has  done  more  for  the  soul  of  the 
Philippines  than  any  other  person  save  Christ,  — and  Rizal 
learned  his  secret  from  Calvary. 

Mindanao  of  Today 

This,  you  may  say,  is  too  sentimental  for  solid,  practical 
America.  Then  we  are  hopeless,  then  we  shall  never  understand 
the  Filipino  people;  for  they  are  romantic,  sentimental,  even  a 
little  melancholy.  They  understand  Rizal,  for  they  are  like  him. 
At  their  best  they  are  billing,  they  are  anxious,  to  pay  a price  for 
their  country. 

This  is  the  atmosphere,  at  least  the  best  atmosphere,  one 
finds  in  every  corner  of  Mindanao.  There  are  many,  to  be  sure, 
who  have  visited  the  island  without  ever  suspecting  that  they 
were  in  a land  like  this.  They  were  looking  for  soil  or  oil  or  coal 
or  forests,  or  perhaps  rare  plants  or  bugs,  not  for  human  hearts, 
and  they  saw  only  what  they  came  to  see.  They  were  blind  to 
the  magic  moonlight,  deaf  to  the  lover’s  serenade,  irresponsive  to 
the  poetry  which  makes  every  Filipino  an  idealist. 

But  missionaries  are  there  to  deal  with  human  life,  there  to 
find  the  good  and  save  it,  to  find  the  bad  and  aid  in  destroying  it. 
If  you  look  at  Mindanao  through  our  eyes  you  will  see  a million 
potential  Rizals. 

Swiftly  we  must  glance  at  Mindanao  as  she  was  and  come  at 
once  to  Mindanao  as  she  is,  and  as  she  is  becoming.  When  Spain 
left  her  she  was  split  into  three  almost  water-tight  compartments: 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  island,  the  north  coast  and  “More- 
land,” roughly  speaking  the  territory  between  Take  Lanao  and 
Zamboanga. 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 

The  Davao  Field 


5 


The  Southeastern  third  contained  pagans,  fifteen  tribes  of 
them,  roaming  from  t he  coast  to  t lie  mountain  tops.  Robert 

Black,  our  first  missionary,  spent  twelve 
years  of  his  life  at  Davao  among  the 
Bagobos,  fostering  schools  and  training 
boys  for  future  leaders.  Before  me  lies  a 
letter  which  has  just  come  from  him.  He 
has  never  thrown  off  the  romance  of 
Davao,  and  if  malaria  had  not  worn 
Mrs.  Black  to  a shadow  they  would  be 
there  yet.  There,  too,  Dr.  Sibley  opened 
a hospital  and  gave  six  of  his  best  years. 

Dr.  Brokenshire,  our  new  missionary 
doctor,  found  a very  different  Davao. 
A village  has  been  sprawling  out  through 
the  swamps  and 
over  the  hills  into 
a city!  Heart  of  the  hemp  industry  of 
the  world,  rapidly  becoming  rich  in  cocoa- 
nuts  and  rubber,  emblematic  of  Mindanao, 
the  land  of  the  future.  Twenty-five  langua- 
ges are  heard  on  the  streets.  Children  from 
the  forests  of  the  far  interior  walk  wide- 
eyed  gazing  upward  in  amazement  at  sky- 
scrapers four  stories  high!  Intense  Moros 
with  bloodshot  eyes  examine  every  passer- 
by as  though  he  were  a potential  menace. 

Ten  thousand  Japanese,  five  thousand 
Chinese,  a hundred  Americans,  another 
hundred  of  Spaniards.  All  the  problems 
and  vices  of  a frontier  mushroom  city  are 
there,  with  interest.  Our  Mission  led  a 
campaign  which  closed  the  licensed 
houses  and  drove  their  inmates  to  cover 

or  out  of  the  province,  three  vears  ago. 

r ’ * e PEDRO  SANTOS,  M.  D. 

Davao  Hospital 


DR.  BROKENSHIRE 
Began  work  1926 


6 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


Fighting  Malaria 

Pernicious  malaria  is  more  prevalent  in  this  rich  and  deadly 
district  than  anywhere  else  in  Mindanao.  The  dread  disease 
which  attacks  a vital  organ  and  sends  one  to  the  grave  or  the 

madhouse  in  a day,  fills 
more  beds  in  our  hospitals 
than  all  other  diseases  com- 
bined. Dr.  Brokenshire  and 
his  Filipino  associates,  Dr. 
Santos  and  Dr.  Baldomera 
Esteban,  a woman  special- 
ist for  women  and  children, 
work  wonders  every  day. 
Men  and  women  are  hurried 
to  the  mission  hospital.  In- 
to the  largest  vein  in  the 
arm  is  plunged  fifty  grains 
of  quinine — enough  to  kill 
a well  man  — and  an  hour 
later  the  unconscious  pa- 
tient opens  his  eyes.  The 
next  day  he  wants  to  go 
home,  feeling  weak  but  well ! 
Now  Dr.  Brokenshire  is 
taking  journeys  into  unknown  areas  of  Mindanao  where  never 
yet  white  men  have  gone.  He  takes  with  him  two  hundred 
dollars  worth  of  quinine  and  with  it  works  miracles — this  wonder 
medicine  man!  The  primitive  people  are  learning  that  he  wants 
them  to  hurry  to  Davao  and  be  cured  instead  of  lying  down 
and  piteously  surrendering  to  kismet! 

Last  year  there  were  1,398  patients  in  the  hospital  beds, 
another  3,138  in  the  dispensary.  Fifty-nine  of  the  307  surgical 
cases  were  major  operations.  The  hospital  consists  of  the 
original  main  building  and  the  ells  and  rooms  added  from  time 
to  time.  These  were  built  hastily  because  urgently  needed,  the 
latest  addition  being  a new  home  for  the  woman  doctor  and  the 


A FILIPINA  NURSE 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


t 


nurses.  The  continued  interest  of  a “patron  saint”  has  made 
this  extension  possible. 

For  ten  years  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Augur  have  been  located  at 
Davao  supervising  schools  and  churches  in  this  field.  Inciden- 
tally Mr.  Augur  gave  much  time  to  the  administration  work  of 
the  hospital  when  it  was  without  an  American  doctor. 

One  of  the  prettiest  chapels  in  Mindanao  is  the  Davao  Evan- 
gelical Church.  Other  churches  have  been  finished  in  Binaton 
among  the  dainty,  long-haired,  lady-like  Bagobos;  at  l’ikit 
among  the  Moros  and  Filipino  immigrants  and  at  Santa  Cruz, 
the  rich  hemp  plantation.  The  Bagobos  of  Tugbuk  are  building 
a chapel,  beginning  at  the  top,  so  they  can  finish  the  rest  of  the 
building  away  from  sun  and  rain. 

The  problem  on  the  coast  is  to  fight  for  Christian  idealism  in 
an  area  which  receives  immigrants  in  boatloads  of  hundreds  every 
week,  good  and  bad,  Christian,  Moslem,  Buddhist,  Shintoist, 
nothing.  It  is  a never-finished  task;  they  come,  they  leave  rich, 
or  they  moulder  under  the  sod  — victims  of  dysentery,  cholera, 
or,  above  all,  pernicious  malaria.  The  problem  in  the  interior  is 
to  lift  the  primitive  people  out  of  a gentle,  helpless  barbarism  into 


NEW  CAGAYAN  HOSPITAL  BUILDING  WITH  DOCTOR’S  RESIDENCE 

Completed  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Floyd  0.  Smith,  it  serves  patients  from  all  along  the 
north  coast.  Miss  Florence  L.  Fox  is  head  nurse. 


8 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


MOHAMMEDAN  (MORO)  MOSQUE,  LANAO,  MINDANAO 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


!) 

Christian  civilization,  and  to  protect  them  from  the  vices  and 
exploitation  of  civilized  leaches. 

For  the  Voting  People 

Three  schools  have  done  more  for  the  Bagobos  than  all  the 
other  influences  that  ever  touched  that  tribe.  The  last  ten  years 
have  seen  the  fruitage.  Educated  young  men  and  girls  have  led 
their  tribe  in  discriminating  between  the  good  and  bad  of  civiliza- 
tion. We  are  teaching  the  Bagobos  to  save  themselves  through 
their  own  children.  The  school  work  is  strictly  practical.  It  con- 
forms to  the  demands  of  the  bureau  of  education  so  the  brighter 
pupils  may  go  on  to  the  higher  schools,  but  it  aims  to  meet  definite 
agricultural,  industrial,  social  and  spiritual  needs. 

Mrs.  Augur  organized  the  first  officially  registered  troop  of 
Girl  Scouts  in  the  Islands.  This  troop  has  taught  girls  how  to 
combine  high  ideals  of  character  with  wholesome  love  of  outdoors 
and  exercise.  They  are  learning  also  the  dignity  of  labor  and  the 
beauty  of  nature,  all  of  which  were  neglected  under  the  Spanish 
rule. 

Every  Saturday  afternoon  Mr.  Augur’s  sixty  Boy  Scouts  and 
Mrs.  Augur's  Girl  Scouts  have  been  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  the 
Augur  home  on  Madupo  Hill  to  hold  their  meetings.  Here  the 
boys  learn  to  practice,  as  well  as  to  hear,  new  high  ideals  of  rever- 
ence for  womanhood,  a thing  unknown  to  the  Spanish  regime. 
These  young  folks  will  be  the  backbone  of  the  new  church  gener- 
ation. 

Not  the  least  important  is  the  contact  with  the  three  hundred 
public  school  teachers  of  the  Province.  The  Augurs  furnish 
them  with  good  Christian  books  and  magazines.  When  they  go 
to  the  wild,  lonely  places  they  prize  and  almost  memorize  these 
books.  Many  find  Christ  in  this  way.  Others  are  kept  from 
falling. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  I’eruganon  were  teaching  in  Davao  when  Mr. 
Peruganon  heard  the  call  to  the  ministry  and  sent  his  resig- 
nation to  the  Bureau  of  Education  in  Manila.  Back  came  the 
following  cable,  “Tell  Mr.  Peruganon  we  greatly  appreciate  his 
services  and  offer  him  double  salary  to  remain."  Mr.  Peruganon 


10 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


replied,  “I  am  happy  to  know  you  desire  me  to  remain,  but  my 
call  to  Christian  service  cannot  be  refused  for  considerations  of 
money  or  position.”  He  is  now  preparing  for  the  ministry,  one 
of  those  glorious  young  people  who  are  living  enthralled  with  the 
dream  of  making  of  the  nation  they  love  a model  for  Asia  — and 
the  world!  One  Peruganon  alone  would  be  worth  the  life-time 
of  a missionary. 

The  Northern  Coast 

All  across  the  Northern  Coast  of  Mindanao  stretch  the  towns 
and  cities  of  the  Christian  Filipinos.  They  are  largely  the 
descendants  of  the  exiles  of  the  Spanish  period,  men  and  women 
of  the  fibre  of  Rizal.  How  often  have  political  exiles  been  the 
backbone  of  new  nations!  Mindanao  has  received  the  most 
daring  and  fearless  Filipinos  into  her  bosom  — selected  by  perse- 
cution. 

The  moment  the  United  States  drove  Spain  from  the  Philip- 
pines, the  Filipinos  drove  the  Spanish  friars  from  Mindanao  and 
broke  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  two.  More  than  half  the 
people  of  Northern  Mindanao  still  follow  Bishop  Aglipay  in  the 
Independent  Church,  in  spite  of  the  desperate  efforts  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  to  win  them  back. 

The  Independent  and  Evangelical  Churches 

My  wife  and  I reached  the  town  of  Cagayan  in  1915  and  found 
the  Independent  Church  strong  in  membership  and  weak  in 
leadership.  We  sought  to  merge  our  movement  with  theirs  and 
found  the  people  very  willing.  Bishop  Aglipay  who  lived  in 
Manila,  far  from  Mindanao,  and  who  suspected  our  motives, 
refused  to  permit  this  co-operation.  Reluctantly  we  built  up 
our  own  congregation,  though  we  remained  very  friendly  to  the 
local  Independent  Church  and  were  constantly  assured  that  “we 
were  seeking  the  same  great  ends.” 

In  1921  when  we  were  transferred  to  Manila,  we  became 
friendly  with  Bishop  Aglipay  who  changed  his  position  so  much 
that  he  asked  us  to  join  his  movement.  Because  he  was  then 
working  in  territory  of  the  Missions  with  which  we  were  co- 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


11 


operating,  our  assistance  of  his  church  might  have  been  construed 
as  rivalry,  so  we  refrained  from  accepting  his  invitation.  Matters 
have  changed,  and  it  looks  probable  that  we  shall  be  able  to  co- 
operate and  not  wholly  improbable  that  we  may  unite  with  the 
Aglipay  movement  in  Mindanao.  Think  of  a merger  with  a 
million  and  a half  Filipinos! 

Our  own  church  has  never  been  called  Congregationalist  be- 
cause we  did  not  desire  to  perpetuate 
denominational  names. 

We  are  called  by  the  name  which  has 
been  commonly  accepted  throughout 
the  Islands  “Evangelical.”  There  are 
now  fifty  congregations  worshipping  un- 
der this  name  in  northern  Mindanao. 
Rev.  Frank  J.  Woodward,  with  a heart 
of  fire  and  a constitution  of  iron,  has  left 
the  impress  of  his  Christ-like  spirit  in 
every  town  and  barrio  of  the  whole 
north  coast.  Mrs.  Woodward  is  loved 
as  few  women  have  been  loved  in  that 
Island,  loved  because  she  is  utterly  for- 
getful of  herself,  incessantly  thoughtful  of  others. 

Educating  Ministers 

Where  to  find  ministers  for  the  multiplying  churches  soon 
became  our  problem.  Since  they  could  not  be  found  they  had  to 
be  made.  In  1921  our  mission  joined  four  other  missions  in  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary  in  Manila.  The  standard  of  this 
institution  has  been  pushed  up  in  the  past  five  years  until  it 
ranks  with  many  of  the  good  seminaries  of  the  United  States. 
Five  hundred  men  and  women  are  now  studying  in  the  high 
school,  college  and  seminary  departments  of  the  institution. 
Mindanao  gets  one  or  two  men  from  the  seminary  each  year. 
But  this  is  not  enough  for  our  needs. 

We  needed  a school  which  could  receive  less  well  prepared 
men  and  give  them  two  years  training  for  the  rural  districts  where 
the  highly  educated  were  not  yet  demanded.  This  has  been 


MR.  WOODWARD 


12 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


CAGAYAN  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  CHILDREN  AROUND  A SAND  PILE 
Miss  Evelyn  Fox  in  center  with  Filipina  workers  on  either  side 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


13 


supplied  by  our  Silliman  Bible  School  located  at  Dumaguete 
joining  Silliman  Institute,  the  Presbyterian  ('ollege,  but  con- 
ducted by  Congregationalists.  Silliman  is  ranked  by  Dr.  Speer 
as  one  of  the  five  best  mission  colleges  in  the  world.  The  Monroe 
Commission,  after  studying  the  schools  of  the  Philippines,  de- 
clared that  the  graduates  of  Silliman  Institute  stood  above  all 
others  in  character  and  achievements.  Rev.  Irving  M.  Channon 
of  our  mission  is  dean  of  the  Bible  School,  ably  assisted  by  Mrs. 
Channon. 

Training  Bible  Women 

But  we  still  need  women.  Indeed,  as  Governor  Wood  was 
fond  of  saying,  “The  best  men  in  the  Philippines  are  the  women.” 
Frequently  churches  have  said,  “If  we  can’t  have  both  a man  and 
a woman  at  once,  send  the  woman  first!”  This  is  why  Miss 
Evelyn  Fox  has  a Bible  School  for  Girls  at  Cagayan,  graduating 
three  or  four  beautiful  Bible  women  each  year.  In  the  same 
building  she  has  thirty  other  girls  attending  the  Cagayan  High 
School  and  unconsciously  imbibing  the  Christian  atmosphere  of 
the  Bible  School.  The  Christian  spirit  is  caught  rather  than 
taught,  so  dormitories  for  high  school  students  are  ideal  for  bring- 


CARRUTH  MEMORIAL  HALL 
Girls'  Dormitory  and  Bible  School 


14 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


ing  young  people  to  Jesus.  The  directors  of  education  have 
encouraged  the  missions  to  establish  such  dormitories  for  boys 
and  girls  beside  every  high  school.  We  ought  to  have  at  least 
ten  in  Mindanao. 


REV.  PROCULO  RODRIGUEZ.  SURIGAO 
Who  represented  his  country  at  the  Jerusalem  Conference . 


The  Unman  Product 

We  are  inordinately  boastful  of  the  splendid  young  men  and 
women  who  have  been  going  out  from  our  schools.  If  I could  do 
so,  I should  put  them  on  a boat  and  parade  them  all  over  America 
as  “Exhibit  A”  of  the  results  of  mission  work.  They  would  make 
their  own  case.  Rev.  Proculo  Rodriguez,  Secretary  of  the  Sun- 
day School  Union,  chosen  to  represent  the  Philippines  in  the 
Peking  Conference  and  again  in  the  Jerusalem  Conference,  is 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


15 


now  losing  himself  in  an  effort  to  lift  Surigao  to  a higher  place. 
Rev.  Donato  Galia,  valedictorian  wherever  he  went,  pastor  of  the 
Cagayan  Church,  is  the  first  Filipino  ever  to  secure  the  scholar- 
ship granted  to  one  brilliant  student  a year  from  some  foreign 
country  by  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York  City. 
Rev.  Matias  Cuadra  is  a famous  Moro  minister,  whose  power  and 
passion  are  becoming  known,  not  only  in  the  Philippines  but 
throughout  America.  Rev.  Cirilo  del  Carmen  has,  with  the 
flaming  fury  of  his  clean  soul,  led  in  stamping  the  dens  of  vice 
out  of  Davao.  Rev.  Alfonso  Quinones  began  the  important  and 
hazardous  mission  work  among  the  Moros  of  Cotabato.  Rev. 
Domingo  Cinco  is  building  his  church  into  the  heart  of  Buena 
Vista,  the  newest  and  most  rapidly  growing  city  of  all  the  Philip- 
pines. He  has  a block  in  the  center  of  the  magnificently  laid 
out  city  where  one  day  there  will  no  doubt  rise  a stately  spire. 
The  list  is  entirely  too  long  to  finish  here. 

Idealistic  Youth 

Suppose  you  ran  across  a nation  somewhere  on  earth  which 
believed  that  by  following  Christ  and  applying  his  ideals  to  all  life 


REV.  AND  MRS.  ALFONSO  QUINONES 
Workers  in  the  Cotabato  region 


16 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


they  may  lift  their  race  higher  than  any  race  that  has  yet  existed, 
would  not  that  nation  fill  you  with  thrills?  There  is  no  such 
nation,  so  far  as  I know,  but  there  is  an  ever-growing  group  of 
Christian  youth  in  the  Philippines  which  dares  to  dream  that 
audacious  dream.  They  are  the  young  men  and  women  pouring 
out  of  our  Christian  schools  — these  whom  we  named  above  and 
hundreds  like  them.  They  have  caught  a mighty  vision  and  their 
souls  are  on  fire.  They  have  studied  sociology  with  a purpose 
and  are  convinced  that  they  can  make  out  of  the  Philippines  a 
race  such  as  never  was  on  sea  or  land.  Every  business,  every 
school,  every  church  they  judge  in  the  light  of  the  Utopia  of  their 
dreams.  Do  you  wonder  that  these  young  people  are  the  most 
fascinatingly  hopeful  people  to  us  who  know  them,  of  any  in  all 
the  world. 

Join  a group  of  Filipinos  with  their  brown  skins  and  their 
flashing  black  eyes,  and  see  whether  you  can  detect  in  any  of  them 
this  amazing  ambition,  not  to  rule  the  world,  not  to  be  powerful 
in  material  or  military  things,  but  to  achieve  a super-race  in 
character  and  culture  and  religion.  Dream  that  dream  with 
them!  What  finer  thing  could  America  do  for  her  “daughter 
republic”  than  to  believe  in  her  and  aid  her  in  her  highest  aspira- 
tion. It  is  the  twentieth  century  counterpart  of  the  idealism  of 
Rizal. 


The  Only  Moslems  Under  the  American  Flag 

Fierce  pirates  of  the  Pacific,  for  centuries  unconquered  by  the 
Spaniards,  the  Moros  prevented  Mindanao  from  being  settled. 
Now  they  are  conquered  and  thoroughly  grateful  to  the  United 
States  for  having  prevented  them  from  killing  each  other.  Moro- 
land  is  now  as  safe  — well,  as  Chicago.  The  fortresses  of  living 
bamboo  which  once  defended  the  Moros  are  all  destroyed.  Now 
they  admire  and  even  almost  love  Americans.  Often  I have  had 
Moros  say  to  me,  “We  hate  Christians,  but  love  you  Americans! 
To  say  that  to  a Christian  missionary  is  a queer  sort  of  compli- 
ment; yet  it  is  true.  Christianity  meant  to  them  Roman  Catholi- 
cism with  its  images  and  adoration  of  Mary.  Mohammedans 


Mindanao , Island  of  Romance 


17 


REV.  MATIAS  CUADRA.  MORO  MINISTER 


18 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


CONFERENCE  GROUP  OF  MORO  STUDENTS 
Dr.  Laubach  in  center 


abominate  images.  And  even  more  they  oppose  a woman  for  a 
god.  But  Protestants  seem  to  them  very  nearly  Moslem. 

One  bright  young  man  said:  “We  Moros  see  only  two  differ- 
ences between  Protestants  and  Moslems.  We  have  four  wives  and 
you  drink  whiskey.  But  we  are  getting  together  fast.  We  are 
giving  up  polygamy  and  you  are  passing  laws  against  whiskey. 
So,  soon  we  can  unite.” 

Some  young  Moros  are  joining  our  churches.  The  only  reason 
they  do  not  come  in  large  numbers  is  that  we  have  never  yet  put  a 
single  missionary  among  them.  We  do  not  have  enough  money. 
So  the  only  thing  we  missionaries  can  do  is  to  take  our  vacations 
by  going  and  holding  conferences  among  the  Moros  on  the  theory 
that  a change  of  language  is  as  good  as  a vacation.  The  gover- 
nor of  the  province  of  Lanao  has  urged  us  to  place  a permanent 
missionary  among  the  Moros,  asserting  that  the  solution  of  the 
difficult  Moro  question  lies  with  missionaries  more  than  with  any- 
body else.  So  let’s  do  it  and  that  soon,  or  let  some  other  mission 
do  our  work  for  us! 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


19 


It  is  Ours 

This  Island  of  Mindanao  is  ours  — ours  because  we  are 
Americans,  ours  because  we  are  Qongregationalists  and  an 
agreement  has  been  made  with  other  denominations  that  we 
should  cultivate  this  particular  field.  It  is  ours,  not  to  hold  nor 
to  exploit,  but  to  serve.  Perhaps  a truer  way  to  put  it  is  that 
we  are  theirs,  for  we  owe  them  a heavy  responsibility. 


DETAILED  MAP  OF  ISLAND  ASSIGNED  TO  CONGREGATIONALISTS 


-20 


Mindanao,  Island  of  Romance 


THIS  WAY  TO  THE  HEART  OF  MINDANAO 


3M-5-28 


The  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions 
14  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts 


l * 1933 


